Courtesy photoJohn Robertson started his own business called Wavelength Inc.

When John Robertson retired in 2000, he wanted nothing more than to spend time hunting and fishing.

It was a natural for Robertson, a zoologist and former chief of Fisheries and Forest Management divisions for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, a man known to some as "Fishhead."

So Robertson and his wife, Sue, moved to Grand Haven Township and he began a year of doing just what he wanted to do.

It was a major change. For years Robertson had worked with numerous natural resource issues, such difficult things as American Indian treaty fishing rights and the controversy surrounding the burial of PBB-infested cattle in northern Michigan.

After dealing with sometimes angry people and difficult situations, the peace and quiet of his new lifestyle sounded just fine.

"For 35 years I tried to get people to work together. I would be the mediator, arbitrator and facilitator. I would bring people together on issues of natural resources, the environment and local units of government," he said.

As an employee of the state, he learned "political savvy" serving on the Michigan Natural Resources Commission. "I was dealing in a political arena, with the state government," he said.

"But then I went from being very mentally active to just sitting, being quiet and peaceful," he said. "It was going from 100 miles an hour to zero miles an hour. Nobody calls. Nobody asks your opinion.

"Total separation from an existing passion doesn't work," he said. "But I realized there were other things I could do to satisfy this passion. I wanted to get back into the service area."

That was the start of Wavelength Inc., a business that benefits from his experience. "Now I work with people to bring them into relationship with something they want to do, with nonprofit and for-profit organizations. I work with them to get them together, on the same wavelength," he said.

Wavelength is currently in partnership with a company in New York state that does leadership development and with Michigan State University where Robertson serves as an adjunct professor.

"I do a lot of coaching and mentoring, working with young biologists who are filled with new knowledge," he said. He leads training seminars in the Great Lakes Leadership Academy and works with the 400,000-member Michigan United Conservation Clubs and the National Wildlife Federation.

As a Wavelength consultant, who holds a degree in zoology from Northern Michgan University, Robertson, 66, focuses a lot on natural resources, but also in other areas, he said.

He has learned that people are willing to work with one another but they just don't know how to do it. "The more people learn to work together, the better off they wil be. I just want to teach people not to fall on their own swords," he said.

He promotes his belief n the harmony of all living things. "All animal and plant life have a right to be in balance," he said.